Hellenic National Research Infrastructure for Agro-Food Systems – AgroFoodGR NRI. Not a national priority
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The proposal for the AgroFoodGR National Research Infrastructure is a strategic initiative for Greece’s agro-food sector. It brings together 70 laboratories, 80 major scientific instruments and 85 validated protocols, covering the entire agro-food value chain.
The Infrastructure comprises 123 specialised scientists from 15 academic institutions, including 30 ranked among the world’s top 2% of scientists. Its researchers participate in dozens of European and international organisations and scientific networks, including EFSA and EURACHEM, and have extensive experience in research, development and innovation. They have brought to Greece participation in scores of competitive research projects with combined budgets of hundreds of millions of euros.
AgroFoodGR scientists support the research and development activities of dozens of public- and private-sector organisations, including services and laboratories of the Hellenic Ministry of Rural Development and Food and regional authorities across Greece. They provide access to cutting-edge technologies and specialised analyses that individual laboratories or businesses cannot develop independently. They support the development of high-added-value products, the certification of quality and origin, and access to demanding international markets.
More than 20 products and services currently available on the Greek market have been developed with contributions from scientists participating in the Infrastructure. These range from eggs enriched with omega-3 fatty acids, dairy products, meat and processed meat products incorporating Greek aromatic plants, to specialised laboratory analyses of food authenticity and dietary intake.
AgroFoodGR was created through the merger of the three agro-food research infrastructures funded during the previous programming period—FoodOmicsGR, PlantUp and FoodInnovation. This followed the direction set by the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation and European experts to consolidate existing capacities, build critical mass and avoid fragmentation.
However, AgroFoodGR has not been recommended for funding under the new cycle of National Research Infrastructures. This decision is not substantiated by the evaluation, which contains gaps and inconsistencies.
Research infrastructures are not research projects. They are instruments of long-term development policy. Without questioning the scientific merit of other proposals, it is difficult to identify another infrastructure with a greater potential impact on Greece’s production, businesses, exports and workforce.
Agro-food is not merely another scientific field. It is a fundamental pillar of the Greek economy and of the country’s international identity. The food and beverage industry has consistently been the largest sector of Greek manufacturing, with a turnover of €26.2 billion, more than 162,000 directly employed workers and exports of €7.4 billion, representing approximately 15% of Greece’s total exports. The broader agro-food value chain encompasses a much larger number of businesses, producers and workers throughout the country and is directly connected with tourism, health, transport and exports.
Despite the high quality of Greek products, a significant share of their potential value remains untapped. A major limitation is the country’s insufficient organised capacity to document and certify this quality and translate it into higher market value. Authenticity, geographical origin, safety, nutritional characteristics, biomarkers of quality, dietary intake and well-being, and sustainable production have become essential instruments of international competitiveness. Countries that achieve higher value from agricultural production have invested systematically in connecting science with production, certification, markets and health.
Greece has acquired substantial laboratory equipment, but this capacity remains fragmented across numerous small units. By contrast, countries such as the Netherlands have established strong national hubs—such as RIVM, WFSR and TNO—that concentrate a critical mass of equipment and scientists, collaborate with industry, support national food policy and contribute to shaping European standards.
This is precisely the gap that AgroFoodGR seeks to address: transforming dispersed equipment and high-level expertise into a unified national capability.
The decision not to fund AgroFoodGR is difficult to reconcile with the objectives of national and European research-infrastructure policy. The General Secretariat for Research and Innovation call identifies collaboration, consolidation, long-term sustainability, industry access to research infrastructures, and the development of services for researchers and businesses as priorities. The European strategy developed through ESFRI regards research infrastructures as instruments of competitiveness, innovation, economic development and evidence-based policymaking, with the expectation of increasing financial sustainability as they mature.
The issue therefore extends far beyond the fate of another funding proposal. It concerns which productive and scientific priorities Greece chooses to support and the development strategy through which it intends to support them.
Unfortunately, no proposal in the agro-food field has been selected for funding. Specifically in the case of AgroFoodGR, failing to utilise a mature infrastructure that brings together a substantial share of the country’s scientific capacity leaves Greece without a strong national instrument for research and innovation in agro-food systems.
It breaks the continuity of years of work and jeopardises the value and momentum created through substantial previous investments. It also represents a missed opportunity to provide scientists, producers and businesses with access to the infrastructure, partnerships and capabilities required to innovate, generate greater added value and grow in Greece.
Contact: agrofoodgr.nri@gmail.com
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